St. Andrew's pastor leaving

Speckman hopes new leadership will spur church on to even greater things

Speckman hopes new leadership will spur church on to even greater things

April 13, 2007|VIRGINIA RANSBOTTOM Tribune Staff Writer

He's been with families through births, baptisms, confirmations, marriages and funerals. Now, after more than 26 years as pastor of St. Andrew's United Church of Christ, Dale Speckman is stepping down. "It's time for a change at St. Andrew's," Speckman said. "I will continue to pray for them and pray that they can be what God has in mind for them." Speckman hopes a change in leadership will allow the church to accomplish great things. "A study in 2002 showed that 50 percent of church-goers were going to the top 10 percent of mega churches," Speckman said. "It also used to be that families went to church together, or if they dropped out, they'd return after having children. That's not happening in the same way anymore." With church membership declining, St. Andrew's added community services to meet the changes in society. And for those that didn't like change, Speckman said, "The good news of God's love and God's mission will stay the same." Through the years, St. Andrew's has hosted Al-Anon and AA meetings; was instrumental in the Tutor Helper Program providing reading assistance to children; became a joint member of the Mishawaka Alliance of Care where Speckman was president for many years; located the Advocacy Center in the building; and provided Vacation Bible School. Then there's the personal reasons for Speckman's departure. When he first came to Mishawaka with his wife, Joan, in 1980 from Springfield, Ill., he had to look up Mishawaka on the map. With a child in third grade and one in fifth, the goal was to stay until both were through high school. Almost 27 years later, his youngest has gone through graduate school and been working for the past seven years, overextending a goal made years ago. The pastor has faced a few obstacles along his journey, some humorous, some serious. Originally coming from St. Louis, he was an avid Cardinals fan who landed in the middle of diehard Cubs country before coming to Mishawaka. "Riding on a bus to see the Cardinals-Cubs game, the Cardinal fans were outnumbered 2 to 55," Speckman said. "I'd carry along a plastic fork and knife in case I had to eat crow after yelling my head off for the Cardinals." And when his daughter married a Cubs fan, the family of Cardinal fans almost held a funeral for losing the faith. Now as a Notre Dame fan, he still has a conflict of interest when they play the University of Illinois. But his biggest hurdle came weeks before his 65th birthday. He was diagnosed with prostate cancer. Like his father, Speckman feared he might die before reaching 65. However, Speckman made it and it's been months since he turned 65. He is now nearly cancer-free. Speckman is also a part-time pastor at Zion United Church of Christ in Wakarusa where he will continue ministering. "I still plan on helping people as a motivator of ministry, but what that is is not determined yet," Speckman said. "Maybe it will just be two days a week at a small congregation." With several of St. Andrew's parishioners now close to 100 years old, Speckman said he will miss their wisdom. "Their wisdom was important to me," he said. Speckman's last service is Sunday, April 22. An interim pastor will serve the church until a new pastor is found. Staff writer Virginia Ransbottom: vransbottom@sbtinfo.com (574) 235-6344